Broadband technologies jumpstart rural economies

Microsoft this morning is announcing its use of TV white spaces – unused broadcast spectrum channels – to help build out access to broadband in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin islands following the hurricanes that took out essential communications infrastructure in both regions. “In partnership with NetHope, government agencies, local Internet Service Providers, and local TV broadcasters, we have deployed TV White Space technology from our Airband initiative to Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands,” the company’s technology and corporate responsibility general manager Shelley McKinley writes in a blog post. Microsoft has been a proponent of using TV white spaces to deploy broadband to rural regions.